KUALA LUMPUR, JUNE 23 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has approved an allocation of RM22 million to equip the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) with appropriate firearms and equipment, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
He said the move was approved by the Prime Minister following the urgent need to strengthen the security of AKPS personnel after the shooting incident on a vehicle carrying an agency commander in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah last February.
“Following the incident, I wrote to the Prime Minister about the need for the AKPS to be equipped with the necessary weapons and the Prime Minister immediately approved an allocation of RM22 million for the need to equip the AKPS with weapons that were deemed reasonable, appropriate for their duties at the border,” he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Saifuddin Nasution said this when answering a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Bharu) regarding the constraints faced by AKPS officers who are not provided with safety equipment such as firearms and bulletproof vests while on duty.
He said that although AKPS is made up of various agencies, including Ministry of Health officers, only a few segments within AKPS have the skills to handle firearms like the police.
Touching on the issue of integrity, Saifuddin Nasution is confident that the establishment of AKPS will resolve the issue of bureaucratic red tape and integrity risks that previously existed when border control involved more than 20 agencies.
“If border control involves more than 20 agencies, the process becomes one by one, but if there is only one agency left, called AKPS, we can reduce bureaucratic red tape and be the best formula to reduce red tape or attraction to corruption issues related to integrity,” he said.
He said that in just the first year of operation, AKPS had recorded several successes including a major seizure of drugs worth tens of millions of ringgit at Penang Airport as well as a case of e-waste smuggling at the port through collaboration with relevant agencies.
Responding to a question from Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Semporna), he assured that the establishment of AKPS did not conflict with the Federal Constitution, while the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under MA63 would continue to be respected.
Saifuddin Nasution said the matter had been explained repeatedly and agreed upon before the AKPS was presented and approved, thus showing that it was no longer a policy issue but an implementation and operation.
He said the establishment of AKPS aims to resolve several key issues including streamlining the movement of people and goods, improving integrity, increasing national revenue and strengthening security aspects at the country’s entry points.
He also stressed that there were previous successful models such as the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) which successfully combined various agencies into an integrated operating system to strengthen national security.
— BERNAMA
